


What a Sister Does

by fringeperson



Category: Neko no Ongaeshi | The Cat Returns
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/M, I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote this and I know better now, Old Fic, mute character that I probably represented really badly, twins separated by divorced parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:28:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27446392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fringeperson/pseuds/fringeperson
Summary: When Naoko and her husband went their separate ways, they took a daughter each. Ann is Haru's twin, and after that, things get confusing...~Originally posted in '08
Relationships: Baron Humbert von Gikkingen/Yoshioka Haru
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I warn you again, this is Very Old Writing - and I haven't changed anything except a couple of typos.

She rolled her eyes and her hands found that exact spot between waist and hips that every girl knows _exactly_ how to find when she's frustrated with someone. A loud breath also escaped her lips.

"I can read your hands, Ann, not your mind," said her father, looking up from the pile of letters he was sorting through.

 _There's a letter from Haru, yes?_ she asked, her hands flying in sign language. Haru was Ann's twin sister, and it was wretched being away from her, but their parents had divorced for reasons they had no interest in sharing, and had taken a daughter each.

The chocolate-haired middle-aged man sighed and handed over the letter.

Ann took it gladly; a little surprised at how thick it was. Their letters were usually just recounts of their days, since their parents had forbidden them to spend so much money staring at the computer screen instant messaging all day. Even Haru had told off Ann sometimes. Ann had a stigmatism, and the glare of the computer screen didn't help.

The girl rushed up to her room, clutching the letter to her chest. Each and every one of her sister's letters was a treasure to Ann. The photo that she had of the two of them when they were seven – no difference between the two of them except for Ann's glasses and the box of fish crackers in Haru's hands – was applied to the lid of the box that she kept these letters in.

Ann fell onto her bed and tore open the envelope, her amber-brown eyes devouring her sister's words. Her mind, however, was barely able to digest what they were saying.

At first, she wanted to squeal for joy that Haru was telling her something she wouldn't tell anyone else – but she couldn't – she could gasp when her sister told her about saving a cat from a truck though, it didn't require her larynx to function.

Ann read the whole thing, and then she read it again. By the time she had finished reading Haru's letter for the third time, her father was calling her to dinner.

They shared the meal in silence. Ann had explained to her father at the time of the divorce that she wasn't interested in hearing about how his job, paper shuffling for an insurance company, had gone that day, or any day. Added to that, Ann was mute, so she could not eat and communicate at the same time.

"Did Haru have anything interesting to say?" asked Cain, her father, as he cleared the table.

Ann looked at him. It was the look of a young woman who has just been asked a very stupid question by someone who is older, and should, therefore, know better. He only ever asked once a week or so, and all he really wanted to know was whether Naoko had found someone new. Ann shook her head at him and saw him relax in a half-dozen different ways that her father probably wasn't aware of.

Of course, if Haru told her that their mother _was_ seeing someone new, the sisters would have gotten together and, unless the guy was so much better for Naoko than Cain, sabotaged the relationship. At least they would have a few years ago. Now that they were almost of an age where they could move out of their parents' houses and get a place for themselves, it didn't matter quite so much that their parents were only friends now.

Now, Ann was planning something else. The next morning, immediately after her father left for work, she turned on the oven and got out the electric mixer. Biscuits, scones and a cake each took their turns in the appliance, then on the cooling wracks before she wrapped them up in cloths and put them in a basket. Ann collected Haru's letter and her palm-pilot, made sure that she had her glasses as well as the container for her contacts, then locked the front door behind her.

Ann was soon at the Crossroads, looking for Muta, the large white cat with a spot of brown around one ear. She saw him, he was just loafing off a café chair, but she also saw Haru, and was torn – go to her sister, whom she hadn't seen for a while, or follow her plan, and the cat, to thank the Cat Bureau for what they had done.

She followed Muta, and quickly. It was amazing how fast he could move for such a fat creature. Ann spared a breath to wonder how many people were staring at her, running through town with a large basket, chasing a cat.

Over rooftops and through back alleys, just as Haru had described in her letter, Ann followed Muta until the refuge was reached and she saw the Cat Bureau.


	2. Chapter 2

While the fat cat's back was turned, Ann laid out plates to pile up her goodies on.

"Impossible," said a voice, and Ann turned around. It was the cat, Muta, who had spoken. "I know I saw Haru with her friend all dressed in green and yellow just five minutes ago. I can't be seeing her now in cream and blue." He seemed to be talking to himself, a shocked look on his face.

Ann smiled and opened a cloth filled with biscuits onto a plate. She knew that she looked just like Haru when she wore her contacts, so she slipped them out and put her glasses on instead before nudging the plate closer to Muta.

"Hey Baron! You'd better get out here!" Muta called, eyeing off the still slightly warm treats before him, reaching a tentative paw towards them.

Ann sat down and crossed her legs, looking forward to the lightshow Haru had mentioned in her letter. It didn't happen. The orange cat doll simply strode out into the courtyard and asked Muta what was going on. Muta pointed at Ann, who smiled.

"Haru," said the Baron, surprise in his tone. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. Has something else happened?"

Ann waved her arms in negative and grabbed her palm-pilot.

\+ I am Haru's twin sister, Ann. I'm mute, so I brought this to talk+ she typed out, turning it so that the Baron might read her words.

"I see, but I assume you sign? I can understand that also, if it will make things easier," asked the gentleman cat, proving his point by signing every word he said as he said it.

 _It shall certainly make things faster,_ Ann replied, smiling, as her hands shaped what her tongue could not.

"What's going on?" Muta asked.

"Muta, this is Ann, Haru's mute twin," explained the Baron, watching the girl's hands move as she explained why she was there. "It seems that Haru told Ann all about her adventure in the Cat Kingdom, and Ann has come to thank us for helping."

Ann's smile grew wider as the handsome figurine seemed to perfectly understand her. It wasn't often that she met someone who already knew sign language, unless they were also mute or deaf. She brought the scones and cake out of her basket.

"Ann! It is you!" A voice rang out from the entrance to the refuge. Muta, Baron and Ann all turned to see, and Ann was soon on her feet.

The sisters embraced with teary smiles on both faces. It really had been a long time since they had seen each other, though they wrote every day.

"Ann, oh Ann, what are you doing here?" Haru asked through the dampness on her face and a couple of sniffs, running her hands up and down her sister's arms, checking that she was real, there, and not hurt or anything that might bring her here.

"She brought cake!" Muta said, focussed on what was most important to him.

 _I had to thank them for helping you,_ Ann signed when she had tugged Haru to sit down with them. _Think how dull my life would have been without you_ , she added.

Haru reached for a scone, but stopped short of the treat, a sidelong look at her sister turning into a suspicious one.

"These aren't any of your magic recipes are they?" she asked quietly.

Ann put on a face of shock, indignation and hurt. It was over the top though, and earned her a look from Haru much like the one Ann had given their father.

_I might have put a little wish-dust in the icing, but that's all, I promise._

"Magic? Wish-dust?" asked the Baron, looking from the twins to the yet un-touched cake. It hadn't even been sliced yet. Muta had stopped eating, his expression that of one who suspects he has just been poisoned.

"Oh well, wish-dust is alright," Haru said, obviously relieved as she took a scone.


	3. Chapter 3

"If you please, what is wish dust?" Baron enquired as he sat, cross-legged on the cobbles, drinking a cup of tea.

"It makes wishes come true, sort of," Haru said, when she had finished her mouthful of scone. Ann had her hands full at that moment, slicing the cake.

 _It has limitations of course, or I would be able to talk. Wish-dust is more along the lines of "I wish my room was tidy", or "I wish that guy in the next class would notice me". It moves small things that might move that way on their own._ Ann explained, collecting the icing that had stuck to the knife on her thumb.

"You can't tell the wish for at least five days though, or it undoes itself," Haru added, watching her sister stick the thumb-full of icing into her mouth.

 _Your room will mess itself back up and the guy will forget you turned his head, to continue with those same examples,_ Ann signed once her thumb was clean of icing.

"Could you wish that someone who you know likes you would get up their courage to ask you on a date, or kiss you?" asked Muta, probably thinking of a lady cat.

 _It could bring you and this other someone to a lot of the same parties, and you might find mistletoe with them at Christmas time. I don't think anyone has ever wished for a date or a kiss before, but then, you can't tell your wishes._ Ann suggested, a shrug behind her moving hands and a bewildered look on her face.

"So who else wants some?" Haru asked, taking a bit for herself, staring at it for a moment, and then biting off the icing. "You get a wish per mouthful of icing," she added when she had swallowed.

Baron had been translating Ann's sign language for Muta, who couldn't understand it, and now both cats were silent, considering what they might wish for.

Ann looked sidelong at her sister. _So, what did you wish for?_ She signed surreptitiously, not wanting Baron or Muta to see. Haru flashed her eyes and raised a finger to her lips. She very sensibly wasn't telling, at least, not until the five-day wish-time had elapsed.

The Baron took a bite of cake, unsure of the wish that he was making, only that something good would happen. He closed his green eyes, enjoying the taste of the cake, and was surprised, when he opened them, to find that he was sitting on Haru's shoulder.

"You went poof, and when we were about to start looking for you, you were on Miss Haru's shoulder. What did you wish for?" Muta demanded.

"Muta, he can't say for five days or who knows what might happen," Haru said, defending her hero. "Besides, I don't mind."

"All the same, Miss Haru, I think I had best get down."

Haru nodded her understanding and held out her arm for the feline gentleman to walk down, and to the ground once more.

Muta ate a lot of everything, and Haru had a few pieces of cake. Baron and Ann stuck mostly to scones and biscuits, and when Toto woke up, he did too.

The sun was starting to head down by the time all the food was gone, and Haru walked Ann home with Muta.

 _Have any of your wishes come true yet?_ Ann asked Haru and Muta at the door.

Haru smiled, Muta shook his head.


	4. Chapter 4

When Baron woke up the next morning, a lot of things had changed, particularly about himself: he kept on bumping his head on the ceiling and had to keep bending lower and lower to avoid it.

He managed to crawl out his front door before he would never be able to move again, and when he stood up, though that he would probably brush the arch entrance-way to the refuge with his top hat if he went that way.

Heading towards it, his silk topper was actually knocked off. Bending to pick it up, he realised that something else had changed – his tail was gone. So were his whiskers and large cat ears, all things vital to his balance.

"Muta, find Ann, and Haru please, quickly," Baron asked his fat feline friend, worried about what had happened to him. It could have been the wish-dust, but Ann had indicated that it only did small things. This was most definitely big.

Muta took one gaping look at his friend and employer, nodded, and took off.

Baron paced and thought. He had no idea what was going on and he didn't like the way it felt.

It felt like hours passed before Muta came running back with Ann and Haru in toe. Both girls stopped suddenly at seeing the Baron. Haru's expression was that of shock, Ann looked only mildly puzzled.

"Baron?" Haru asked, taking shy and tentative steps towards the man, yes, man, who stood before them. He looked about a year older than the twins, with shockingly orange hair and abnormally green eyes, and very handsome.

"I have no idea what has happened," he said.

Haru sighed, there was no mistaking the Baron's voice, and she rushed at him, throwing her arms around him.

"Something good, I think," she said, running her fingers through his hair.

Ann smiled. Wish dust didn't do this, she knew that this was too big for wish dust. Besides, she had spent half the night brewing the spell that _did_ do this, so that Haru and Baron could be happy together. Her own wish was that she would find such a spell, and that night she had, just as she was flipping through her old scrap books. The spell was old and tatty, but it had worked, only faster than she had expected it to.

Ann rolled her eyes at the way Haru and Baron seemed unable to move any more and with just a little pressure to the back of each of their heads, wished that they would understand exactly how they felt about each other.

Haru enjoyed the kiss, so did Baron. Even Muta got a good laugh out of it.

_With true love's kiss, the spell is sealed, unbreakable._


End file.
